Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1701 to 1725 of 4933 results

1701. A Not So Simple Story of Demons and Pigs

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

"This is a strange story," declares J.M. Creed. "Fantastic and grotesque," adds Joseph Fitzmyer. "Unsophisticated, with enough preposterous material to invite the scorn of the skeptic," concludes J. Pesch. These men are all esteemed New Testament scholars. Their statements refer to the story I just read (Luke 8:26-39). If you want a more local opinion, take it from the lady who edits the church page. In response to hearing the title of this morning's sermon, she simply said: "Yuk." But it is a good story. ...

1702. The Parable of the Choices

Matthew 21:28-31

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

In 1897 Remington Arms Company chose not to buy a patented "writing machine." The Underwood Company bought it instead and has sold millions of typewriters since. Remington Arms made a bad choice. In the 1950's Sam Phillips made a record for a young man who wandered into his Memphis studio. The fledgling singer wanted to record his voice for his mother. In 1955 Sam Phillips chose to sell his exclusive recording contract with Elvis Presley to RCA for $35,000. Bad choice. Former President Nixon chose to ...

1703. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

As we move toward baseball season, I want to tell you about a minor league manager named Josh O’Riley. Years ago O’Riley was manager of the San Antonio Missions. That year the Missions were having a successful season. All nine of the starters were batting over .300 and it became the consensus of sportswriters and fans that this time they were destined for a league championship. Then disaster struck. Suddenly, the entire team fell into a slump and their bats turned cold. The once inspired San Antonio team ...

1704. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

1705. Recognizing His Disciples

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

Recognition of people, places, and things is a fundamental prerequisite of successful living. We count on signs to guide us. Most of us take it for granted. We move through life in various speeds and count on our powers to recognize who and what is about us. It is so simple and pervasive that we hardly notice. The obvious is with us and yet is it so obvious? Our talents of interpretation and, yes, our prejudices are sometimes awkwardly there for all to see. We can never be quite sure how others will ...

1706. Rich Man, Poor Man

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

It is said that in Hollywood there is an exclusive school attended by children of movie stars, producers and directors. One day a teacher in that school asked her very privileged pupils to write a composition on the subject of poverty. One little girl started her literary piece like this: “Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her nanny was poor, her chauffer was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor.” I don’t think that little ...

1707. Down in the Dungeon

Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Two men were walking along the edge of a steep cliff one night when one slipped and fell over. His companion crept to the edge. “Are you all right?” he shouted. “Yes,” came the answer from below. “Are you hurt?” the second man shouted back down. “No,” came the reply. “Well,” shouted the surprised man from above, “how far did you fall?” “I don’t know,” came the voice from below. “I haven’t hit the bottom yet.” Some of you will recognize the name Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was, perhaps, the finest preacher ...

1708. Falling Into Faith

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Woody Allen once quipped, “If there is a God, he is the ultimate under-achiever.” This statement is a stinging indictment, especially for those who have high expectations of God. Some may even find it offensive. It is unthinkable that God would want to do less than the very best for the world. However, these deflating words are not too distant from the attitude of Abraham at the beginning of Genesis 15. Abraham has waited expectantly for the child that God has promised him and anticipated the joy of a son ...

1709. The Light Still Shines

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there any night more beautiful than Christmas Eve? Our boys and girls are waiting expectantly on a visit from St. Nick. Each of us as adults love the joy we see in their eyes. We have our own kind of joy. Those who are parents love giving their children nice things. That is when we truly learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And most of us remember the joy we felt as children at Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Even more important is the knowledge that as the ...

1710. Be Ready for the Possibility of the Resurrection

John 20:1-18

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The last couple of days have been extremely difficult for the followers of Jesus. Thursday, after they had shared a last supper together, the Lord went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. There he was arrested by the religious authorities and put on trial in the court of Caiaphas, the high priest. Jesus was charged with blasphemy: false religious teaching. Had Caiaphas heard sufficient evidence to find him guilty, he could have been sentenced to death by stoning. The high priest was not comfortable with ...

1711. You Can Be Intelligent

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

When I say "You Can Be Intelligent," I am not talking about I.Q. There are all kinds of smart people around. Many have very high I.Q.s whereas some are barely more than border-line on the test scales. Intelligence cannot be confined to I.Q. tests. Some people are street smart. I know a man who is clothes smart. He can sniff out bargains on men's wear the way hunting dogs find a fox. He also knows the considerable difference between quality and mere appearance. Another man was never known to be much of an ...

1712. The Promise Of The Spirit

Sermon

John A. Stroman

As a mainline church we have been told to the point of weariness what is wrong with us. Many articles have been written about the demise of the mainline churches with their dwindling membership and attendance. Someone has figured out mathematically that if the United Methodists continue to lose members at the present rate, the last Methodist will leave the face of the earth in the year 2037. This is a very sobering thought. The Dilemma Of Decline To borrow a line from Dickens, these are, for the mainline ...

1713. The Season Of The Nativity

Matthew 25:31-46

Bulletin Aid

Wayne H. Keller

CELEBRATING THE PRESENCE OF GOD Pastoral Invitation For the second time, in the name of the newborn one, welcome to the ____ day of Christmas, when my true love gave to me __________. Now that we are well past the culture's celebration of Christmas day, we can celebrate the biblical version of the event. Someone (author unknown) has said, "In despair we cry, 'Look at what the world has come to!' In joy we shout, 'Look at what has come to the world!' " Ask the people to stand and reverently shout, "Look at ...

1714. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

What do Richard Nixon and Shirley Temple have in common? While they may have shared many common interests and traits, isn't it true that neither one ever outlived their pasts? When Richard Nixon was buried behind the house that his father built, he went to his grave as the president that was forced to resign in the face of humiliation and scandal. Even amid his remarkable rehabilitation which included significant contributions to the world's conversation about public policy, Nixon may as well have had " ...

1715. Going Ahead Anyway

Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Did you notice that bad things did not stop happening through the holidays? And is any warning necessary that bad things will happen in every season of this year? Surely there is better news than that, but we ought to be honest about the bad news. Not even the holidays generate enough good will to stop people from blowing up airplanes and destroying people's reputations and abusing children and selling drugs to teenagers and gunning down their neighbors. In fact, the holidays often elevate stress levels. ...

1716. God, The Son

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

Comment: I spoke earlier of having someone in mind as I wrote a part. For the second sermon of a series on the Trinity, I decided to interview John the Baptist. In the congregation was a young man who weighed about 240 pounds, most of it muscle. He had a very large, full, nearly black beard. Although he is a gentleman in every respect, he is able to hold his own in a car repair shop and on an athletic field. He also happened to be in the church's drama group. I called him early in the week to see if he was ...

1717. God, The Son

Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Jerry Eckert

[Author's Note: I spoke earlier of having someone in mind as I wrote a part. For the second sermon of a series on the Trinity, I decided to interview John the Baptist. In the congregation was a young man who weighed about 240 pounds, most of it muscle. He had a very large, full, nearly black beard. Although he is a gentleman in every respect, he is able to hold his own in a car repair shop and on an athletic field. He also happened to be in the church's drama group. I called him early in the week to see if ...

1718. What Makes Those Disciples So Darn Happy?

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

"I tell you, those disciples had it made! I sure wish that I had been alive in those days. They had it easy. It could not have been very hard for them to believe in Jesus and in God. They had it made! They had Jesus with them all of the time. It is harder for us, because we do not have Jesus; he is with the Father. Consequently, we have to believe in him; faith is all we've got. But the disciples had him present with them. What a gyp! It really is difficult being a Christian when all you have going for you ...

1719. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

I imagine that different letters in the New Testament were written with varying degrees of haste. Paul wrote an angry letter to the church at Corinth. You can tell that as he wrote it he had a lot of things on his mind. On the other hand, the Book of 1st Thessalonians consists almost entirely of prayers and praise. Obviously, there was not a great sense of urgency about the letter. When Paul wrote his brief letter to Philemon, he told his friend and former slave, Onesimus, to personally deliver it. It ...

1720. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

1721. The Season of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:4 TEV) Some of you who are over thirty may have had the pleasure, as I did, to grow up on a farm. Rural living and country life was a happy time for me. But summertime on the farm was always the big season of work. Here in the city we tend to relax a little more during summer. We try to take a vacation trip. We go out of town on weekends every chance we get. Young people spend a lot ...

1722. Affirmation and Alienation

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

"Has the human situation really changed?" To be sure, the context in which we live has changed radically since the beginning. As we age and mature as individuals, changes also occur in us. Perhaps the question should be phrased differently. Yet, there is a sense in which the human situation, as described in Genesis, in some ways, is still the same. Let’s examine it and see if we agree. Regardless of how we read and interpret the story of creation in Genesis, at the heart of it is an indication that we ...

1723. Training Session

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

The recruiting of the twelve disciples is now complete. Jesus has chosen a group of unlikely candidates - fishermen, tax collectors, unsophisticated Galileans, and others - to communicate the good news to the world that he is the Messiah. Training these people for their task is the second phase of this operation. Jesus takes the disciples away from the crowds for an educational retreat on the side of a nearby mountain. Their three-year training session begins with a lecture by their teacher and master, ...

1724. The Suffering Servant

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Caiaphas - High Priest in Jerusalem; an able person, perhaps a bit weak; not always sure that everything he is doing is correct. Annas - the ex-High Priest in Jerusalem; father-in-law of Caiaphas; seen as the real power "behind the throne." Temple Guard - very formal in his approach. Judas - he waivers between very sure of what he is doing and rather unsure. The play opens with Caiaphas, working alone at his desk in his office. After several moments he is joined by his father-in-law. Guard: ( ...

1725. I Should Have Written That "Thank You Note"

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

There you are with nine other lepers. What a terrible disease. First the loss of feeling, then the loss of hair, feet, hands, nose, eyes, etc. Your own family treats you like some grotesque monster. You subsist on alms given by strangers. From time to time you cry out, “Unclean, unclean,” to warn away the unsuspecting. What a dread, dread disease this leprosy. Misery loves company, though. Thank God for these fellow lepers. Deep in your heart you long for the company of whole persons, persons who have not ...

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